U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he's now considering hosting an in-person Group of Seven summit after canceling it because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David," Trump tweeted. "The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all - normalization!"
Trump initially scheduled the G-7 summit for June 10-12 at the Camp David, Maryland, presidential retreat outside Washington. But he canceled the annual meeting in March, citing the pandemic as the reason, and said it would, instead, be held by video conference.
But Trump is now pushing to reopen the country to stimulate a U.S. economy that has been severely weakened by the pandemic, even though the U.S. continues to lead the world in confirmed cases with more than 1.5 million and in fatalities, which have exceeded 92,000.
The White House did not immediately provide information about how a summit of world leaders could be planned so quickly, and there was no immediate reaction from G-7 countries.
Coronavirus restrictions
The Trump administration still has travel restrictions in place for visitors from Europe, where four G-7 nations are located.
The U.S. and Canada, a G-7 country, have agreed to keep their shared border closed to nonessential travel until June 21.
Stay-at-home orders in Washington remain in effect until at least June 8 and Maryland started easing restrictions last week.
G-7 countries are also continuing to grapple with the pandemic and are in different stages of reopening their own societies.
